Pat Kearney

Patrick J. "Pat" Kearney (1955–2014) was an American reporter, broadcaster, coach, author and historian, noted for his newscasting, sportscasting and books about his hometown of Butte, Montana.

Early life Kearney was born in Butte on May 24, 1955, the son of Martin and Louetta (Pene) Kearney. He attended Catholic schools in Butte, and graduated from Butte Central Catholic High School in 1973, where he was a runner on two consecutive state cross country championship teams.

Kearney's departure from KXLF came on December 7, 1988, when he refused to accept a demotion to sports director, and filed a lawsuit against them for wrongful termination in violation of their written personnel policy. After a split decision in state district court mostly favoring KXLF, and a cross appeal by both parties, the case was decided by the Montana Supreme Court in Kearney's favor, but reducing legal fees granted by the district court to Kearney by $87.90.

Author, historian and civic involvement Kearney wrote occasional news and sports articles for The Montana Standard up until his death, the final one about the 100th football game between Butte High and Billings Senior High School in 2014.

He was also devoted to recording Butte's history as the Anaconda Copper era ended. His 1983 KXLF news story on the closing of Anaconda's last remaining Butte mining operation (Continental Pit) can be seen in the 2008 PBS documentary film Butte, America.

He wrote seven books about the city and its history; an eighth book dealt with the long-time football rivalry between Montana State and the University of Montana. He was a primary interviewee for the 1999 Montana PBS documentary film Remembering the Columbia Gardens, based partly on his 1994 book Butte's Pride – The Columbia Gardens.

In addition to founding the Butte Sports Hall of Fame, he established the annual Blarney Stone Run (since renamed in his honor) in 1983,

1989 – Butte's Big Game 1990 – Miracle on the East Ridge (about the Our Lady of the Rockies statue) 1994 – Butte's Pride – The Columbia Gardens (about the 1899–1973 amusement park, Montana's only major one) 1998 – Butte's Voices: Mining, Neighborhoods, People 2001 – Butte’s Copper League 2004 – The Divide War: Montana’s Golden Treasure (about the MSU-UM football rivalry) 2010 – Butte’s Catholic Family (about Butte's deep Catholic heritage) 2014 – Butte's Berkeley Pit